Archive: Articles

The Metaverse Must Be Decentralized

By Adam Sharp on October 29, 2021

As soon as I saw the headline, I cringed. “Facebook changes its name to Meta.”  The new name is a not-so-subtle reference to the Metaverse. Facebook plans to invest $10 billion to build an immersive VR platform (demo here). They envision a future where we all hang out virtually in 3D Facebook. It looks pretty lame. And I’m not convinced that virtual reality is the next big…

KingsCrowd Is a Very Unique Investment Opportunity

By Andy Gordon on October 28, 2021

It’s hard to believe, but I’ve presented nearly 100 startup investment opportunities to First Stage Investors.  All of these companies impressed the hell out of me. But there’s one startup that stands apart from all the rest. It’s the only one I’ve…
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Strong Follow-On Deals Have These Features

By Adam Sharp on October 26, 2021

When I first got into startup investing, I was mostly investing in early-stage deals. Valuations usually fell between $3 million-to-$10 million (with a few exceptions of around $40 million). I was focused on trying to find the potential big winners as early as I could. And I definitely…
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Startup Insider: The Most Promising Cannabis Companies

By Early Investing on October 25, 2021

Last week, one of the leading marijuana business conventions — MJBizCon — took place in Las Vegas. And First Stage Investor’s own Vin Narayanan was there to see firsthand what’s going on in the cannabis industry. Many people have been disappointed by…
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Bitcoin Poised for More All Time Highs

By Adam Sharp on October 22, 2021

Bitcoin has pulled back from the all-time-high of around $67,000 it reached earlier this week. But it’s still looking great at around $60,000.  A pullback here is actually quite healthy. We don’t want it to go up vertically. Parabolic (near vertical) moves inevitably correct hard. Steady…
Full disclosure: I own a small amount of DWAC shares (.02 percent of portfolio investment). Note that this is a highly speculative investment and is already up a ridiculous amount. Do not construe this as financial advice.  On Thursday, former President Donald Trump launched a special…
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Pierre Rogers, the founder and CEO of First Stage Investor holding Yahyn, thinks he’s on to something very big and immensely disruptive. He thinks it will upend America’s incredibly convoluted alcoholic beverage industry. It should make life much better for…
Note: Startup investors spend a lot of time learning about founders. We want to know about their backgrounds, how much business experience they have, what they think the future will look like… But we don’t spend enough time learning about other investors.
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Watch Out for This Serious Startup Investing Red Flag

By Adam Sharp on October 19, 2021

Oftentimes in seed rounds, companies explain that they need to raise money before really getting the business started. This can be a serious red flag, depending on the situation. If the company was founded months (or years) ago but has made little to no progress, that’s…
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It’s an exciting week to be a crypto investor. After years of waiting, we finally have a bitcoin ETF!  At least… as close as we can get to a bitcoin ETF right now. ProShares will launch its Bitcoin Strategy ETF tomorrow. The ETF is…
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Bitcoin Keeps Outperforming Altcoins

By Adam Sharp on October 15, 2021

Bitcoin continues to perform well against altcoins, after lagging significantly earlier in the year.  It’s hard to say how altcoins will react if bitcoin goes above $100,000. They may soar higher right along with it. Or they may struggle for attention in the face of a…

Three Catalysts Could Launch Bitcoin to $200k

By Adam Sharp on October 15, 2021

As I write this, bitcoin is trading at around $60,000. That’s close to the previous all-time-high of $64,863 that it reached on April 14. And I believe we’re headed significantly higher over the next year and a half — maybe even to $200,000 before this bull market is…
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New Pick: The Startup That’s Cleaning Up Space

By Andy Gordon on October 14, 2021

Deal Details Startup: Launchspace Technologies Corporation Security type: Common stock Round size: Up to $1.07 million  Share price: $100.26 Valuation: $48,999,970 Minimum investment: $100.26 Investment portal:…

Look Beyond Big Tech Investments

By Allison Brickell on October 13, 2021

Last Monday, Facebook experienced an outage that lasted for about six hours. Users couldn’t access Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, Whatsapp or OculusVR.  The effects were felt across the world. Suddenly, everyone who relied on Facebook or WhatsApp for communication was left in a lurch. Even…
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Bitcoin Soars Past Altcoins

By Adam Sharp on October 8, 2021

Bitcoin has been beating altcoins over the last few weeks — which is something we haven’t seen in a long time. And I think this trend may continue for a while. We could even get a situation where bitcoin “sucks all the air out of the room,” which…

Why You Should Avoid Crypto Trading

By Adam Sharp on October 8, 2021

Almost everyone I know in the crypto community considers themselves a “trader.” Not an investor, a trader. They try to time the market, often using leverage. A lot of people assume that trading is the path to riches.